02/27/2015 at 4:00 pm

Well here you have it: a GIF subway map of New York City that shows the subway lines in order of construction, created by Appealing Industries via Paste Magazine. You’ll notice that the first lines to appear are in Brooklyn, rather than the IRT line on Manhattan. The lines in Brooklyn were part of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (later the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation or BMT), created in 1896. They operated along existing surface railways and streetcar lines.

02/24/2015 at 10:30 am

From the collection of Ron Ziel, photo by Bettina Winston from Trans World Airlines. Shared by Justin Rivers, The Eternal Space

We’ve been preparing for our upcoming tour, The Remnants of Penn Station, led by Tamara Agins of New York City Department of City Planning and Justin Rivers, of the play The Eternal Space. In addition to tracking down remnants of the original Pennsylvania Station, rarely shown photographs of the station and its demolition from personal collections will be shown, like the above. While many people are familiar with the Redstone rocket that was displayed in Grand Central Terminal, this is the first we’ve seen of the airplane in Penn Station. And the story gets even better…

02/20/2015 at 2:00 pm

It’s easy to hate on LaGuardia Airport, even the politicians do it. Just last year, Vice President Joe Biden compared it to an airport that would be found in a “third world country,” nearly identical to what Donald Trump said of it in 2011: “You go to LaGuardia Airport, it’s like a Third World airport.” The executive director of the Port Authority agreed with Biden, and Governor Mario Cuomo called the airport a “disgrace.” Well, for the haters, change is finally coming. The demolition of Hangars 2 and 4, between the Central Terminal Building and the Delta/US Airways terminal is mid-demolition. There hasn’t been any news about it, probably because nobody cares.

02/12/2015 at 12:00 pm

Parisian trainspotters have for years hoarded a special secret. It’s located next to the Metro Station Villiers in the 17th arrondissement, in a storage track that used to be a terminal loop for Metro Line 3 before it was extended. Inside, some very old trains lie dormant, their slumber undisturbed by regular visits by spray painters and photographers. Most of them are in an advanced state of decay.

Soon, this heritage will be gone, the trains will receive judgement: damned to dismantlement, or, for a select few deemed the most emblematic and unique, blessed with preservation. Take a tour with us today in this photo series taken over the course of two months from December 2014 to January 2015 of the abandoned trains, as well as a warehouse for restored metro cars.

02/11/2015 at 11:00 am

From our time writing about the subway system at Untapped Cities, we’ve come to know some of the real transit buffs in New York City. The community is a passionate one, always ready to provide new, fascinating information to our readers, and correct inaccuracies on Wikipedia. Now, transit aficionados can take things one step further, by decorating their home in color palettes inspired by the NYC Subway. LINE x LINE just finished a successful Kickstarter campaign to create graphic posters and postcards that surface both colors and historical meaning from New York City subway stations.

02/09/2015 at 11:00 am

Where do the cryptic designs on manhole covers come from? What is the meaning of those spray-painted neon symbols in the street? With this field guide in your pocket, the answers are close at hand. Ingrid Burrington’s Networks of New York: An Internet Infrastructure Field Guide is sure to change the way you look at the concrete jungle. (And the internet.)